Images and Symbols in Tolkien’s Works. The Hell
Images and Symbols in Tolkien’s Works. The Hell

Summary/Abstract: By highlighting the profile of hell as a symbol of evil, constantly encountered as such at all levels of human culture, the author’s aim is to reveal its powerful influence on Tolkien’s works. Just like the paradisiacal paradigm, the “archetype” of hell continues to impregnate deeply “the anthropological structures of the imaginary realm” (Gilbert Durand) even in the context of a radically desacralized culture. Although J. R. R. Tolkien did not consciously and programmatically speculate on such symbols, he had possibly hoped for a more specialized appeal to his readers by introducing these symbols in his literary creation. How does one account for the recurrence of so many symbolic hypostases of hell in Tolkien’s works? Tolkien seems to have been partly aware of the symbolism embedded in the structure of the evil fortresses in Middle-earth. However, we should not conclude that he had a premeditated systematic “plan” of including certain symbols in the framework of his fairy tales.

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